Minors: No Right to Legal Counsel? - There Ought to Be a Law

Statistics provided by the Public Defender's office have shown that 50% of all minors who were arrested this year by the Israel Police were not given their right to legal counsel, in data given to MK Adi Kol for a discussion before the Public Petitions Committee, which deals with juvenile detention procedure.

MK Adi Kol convened an emergency meeting of the Public Petitions Committee following the appalling incident where a minor was denied access to legal counsel, or even the presence of her parents, during a police interrogation, after which the child was left to sleep on the floor of the interrogation room.

The meeting confronted the issues of the rights of a minor who is arrested and interrogated, as provided for in the law for Children's Rights. At present, detectives are not mandated to have a parent present during questioning, and the law has not yet been amended to specify the amount of time the amount of time a minor can be held at the police station without monitoring his physical condition.

The necessity of guarding children's rights, according to research in the field, shows that 35% of all false confessions received by the Police have been from underage children.